WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (KUNA) -- The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a short-term spending bill that would keep federal agencies running through February 18, 2022.
The legislation comes just one day before the federal government is scheduled to run out of money.
The vote was 221-212, with one Republican joining all Democrats to pass it.
The legislation would not change existing funding levels or policy, but does include $7 billion for evacuees from Afghanistan, according to House Committee on Appropriations Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where prospects for quick passage are in doubt. While leaders support the agreement, a small group of conservative Republicans, who oppose vaccine-or-testing requirements for companies with at least 100 employees, have threatened to delay passage of the short-term funding bill.
That could lead to a short partial government shutdown.
For the second day in a row, a group of Republicans led by Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas threatened to hold up the government funding measure in protest of a presidential directive that orders large employers to require coronavirus vaccines for workers or implement comprehensive testing programs. Even though many public-health experts see such policies as critical to combating the pandemic, the GOP lawmakers charged that Biden's mandates are unconstitutional and threaten Americans' rights and jobs. (end) asj.gb